Once In A Blue Moon
by Lattelady
Summary: JS romance: when reality and dream brush too closely together, there can be unexpected results. EDITED AND POLISHED version 101701, I hope it uploaded this time.


All things Labyrinth are owned by the producers and writers of the movie. I like to think Sarah and Jareth belong to themselves. 

This story comes from an idea that came to me while proofing my other story. It is a, what if? A possibility, that made me giggle when I thought about it, thought I doubt Sarah laughed until years later. 

A BLUE MOON is defined as the second full moon in a month.   
  


**ONCE IN A BLUE MOON**   
by   
Phyllis L. Christie   
  


_In The Underground, The Morning After Jareth Was Born_: 

There was great rejoicing in Goblin City. A new Prince had been born. All knew that this was a special Prince, because he had been born on a night of a Blue Moon. 

As was the custom in those days, King Jared and Queen Morgan called Wiseman to The Castle Beyond The Goblin City, so he could look into the Crystal Of Destiny to see what lie in store for little Prince Jareth. 

"What do you see?" The King prodded, his arm around his beloved wife. 

"It is most unusual," Wiseman shook his head and looked again into the Crystal. "I see.... I see..." 

"What is it man?" King Jared would never allow anything bad to touch his wife or child. 

"Give him time," the Queen smiled, sure that there was only a glowing future for her beautiful blond son. 

"The little Prince has two possible destinies, Your Majesties. The magic is strong in him," Wiseman looked deep into the Crystal for a third time, unable to believe what he was seeing, finally looking up at the worried parents, he smiled and added, "he will be a good king." 

"But how can he have two destinies?" The Queen gripped her husband's hand in worry. 

"I see a path for him to follow, one that isn't always easy, but it will be the choices he makes on that path that will determine his future," Wiseman put down the Crystal as he spoke of things to come. "One destiny leads to great love and happiness. The other is to be alone all of his life. Be warned, interference in his future will lead to despair for the young Prince and all of the Underground. That is all the Crystal has shown me." 

An hour later, when Wiseman returned to his home in the Labyrinth, he took off his glasses and sighed at all he had seen. 

"Why didn't you tell them all of it!"?  Squawked his Hat. 

"How dare you spy over my shoulder," Wiseman rolled his eyes at the nerve of Hat. 

"Spy? It was right there in front of me, plain as the nose on your face, how could I miss it?" Hat argued. 

"It is not to be spoken of, they will never believe us anyway," Wiseman muttered, as he grew sleepy. "Who would believe a Mortal might be the undoing of a Goblin King?" 

"Undoing, what do you mean undoing?" Hat tried to wake Wiseman. "I saw the making of a Goblin King...a Mortal will be the making of a Goblin King.... wake-up, you need new glasses!" 

_The Night Sarah Returned From The Underground_: 

Outside the window, the owl watched from a tree. The girl in the room was having a party with her friends from the Underground. The glow of happiness on her face sent a shaft of pain to the bird's heart and he took off, his wings spread wide, climbing higher and higher until it was only the bird, the stars and the moon. He let the glory of the moonshine on him in hopes it would give him some answers. When none came, he wheeled around and headed for home, to the Underground, where he was King of all he surveyed. 

Standing on the balcony off his chambers, his long finely sculpted hand holding a wine glass, The King Of The Goblins waited for Sir Didymus to return. He was tempted to pull out a crystal and watch the party he had seen from the tree outside of Sarah's room, but good sense warned him not to. 

"You sent for me, Your Majesty?" Sir Didymus joined the King a few minutes later. 

"Thank you for coming so promptly, Didymus," Jareth turned and pointed to a seat. The small knight had had a long day in the service of his King. "I wanted to know that she is all right and to thank you for your invaluable assistance today." 

"The Lady Sarah is fine, Sire, but...." 

"Come, come, Didymus," the King chided him. "We've known each other too long to mince words. If there is something wrong, I need to know about it." 

"We are worried about you, Sire," the Gallant Knight cleared his throat. "Why did it all go so wrong?" 

"It went the only way it could, given her age," Jareth poured wine into a small sized goblet and handed it to his old friend. "She was pulled into The Underground years too young. So the game had to be played as a child of fifteen would see it," he shrugged as he sipped his wine. "But fear not old friend, she passed the test of the Labyrinth. She has the strength, courage and love necessary to be a Goblin Queen, so the game is not yet over." 

_Midnight, Three Months Later_: 

Sarah Williams stared at herself in the mirror of her dressing table. It was late and she was tired, but she knew if she went to sleep, she would have the nightmare again. She had begun having it shortly after her return with Toby from the Underground. She would see Jareth and the Labyrinth destroyed every night in her sleep. 

"All right so I lied!" She called out to her reflection, the tears rolling down her cheeks. "But darn you Jareth, what did you expect me to do, I couldn't sacrifice Toby's happiness for my own." 

Wiping her face on the sleeve of her nightgown, she moved to her bed and lay down, hugging her pillow close as her confused mind played over and over all the faces of the Goblin King she had seen that night. Her last waking thought was, 'it wouldn't matter, anyway. What would I do with you if I had stayed?' 

Like all the other nights, since her return, a white owl watched from her open window. But tonight, the ghostly bird couldn't take her pain any longer, and with a crack of thunder and a gust of wind he changed into the man the girl had been thinking about. 

"My poor sweet," he whispered, his dark cloak blowing in the wind beside her sleeping form. "If I take away your pain, all your memory of what happened will be gone, too," he stood tall and regal over the dreaming woman-child. 'What is a man to do,' he thought. He had heard the prophecy of his two destinies, but had always dismissed it as an old wives tale. Now looking down at Sarah, he began to wonder. 

"Jareth," Sarah turned in her sleep, calling his name as she had every night since returning. 

"Ahh Sarah," he leaned close and wiped a tear from her face, rolling the glistening moisture in his fingers until it hardened into a small tear shaped diamond. "What's said is said, and done is done. And we're both caught in a trap of our own making." 

As he said the words an idea came to him. He whispered quietly to the sleeping girl, "Sarah, listen to me Sarah, all that you and Toby experienced, you'll remember as a dream. A childhood dream, one that makes you happy, but on the night of the full moon, you will go to sleep and dream again of the Crystal Ballroom. Each full moon you'll meet me there and we'll dance. Over the years you'll grow and change and you'll see me as I really am. Now sleep Sarah, sleep and dream happy dreams," he leaned over and sealed the spell with a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Until we meet again," he smiled and called to the wind and disappeared. Maybe there was hope for him after all?   


_Nine Years After Sarah Returned From The Underground_: 

Sarah sat in the window seat of her cottage and watched the huge full moon as it rose over the forest next to her property. She loved full moon nights and wasn't quiet sure why. Tonight was special, it was the second full moon in the month, and she smiled to herself as she relaxed back, her eyes growing heavy with sleep. Forgotten was her real life. The stories she wrote for children about an Underground Kingdom that was peopled by interesting and odd characters and ruled by a mysterious king who was only seen from a distance. 

"Sarah," a softly accented voice called out to her. "Come with me Sarah. The moon is full and it is our time together." 

"Jareth," she whispered back as she took his gloved hand and they disappeared, to reappear in a Crystal Ballroom in another place, where time moved in strange eddies and currents. 

The man standing beside Sarah was tall, with long spiky blonde hair and eyes of mismatched blue, one very deep blue, the other a few shades lighter. He was dressed in a tight fitting blue velvet jacket and an ivory silk shirt with ruffles at the neck and sleeves. His tight fitting cream-colored pants were tucked into high black boots. 

"Shall we dance, my sweet," the King led Sarah out to the floor as the music began to play. His hand holding hers as he put his arm around her and swung her into the dance steps they had been dancing for years. Her full white gown swaying gently as they danced. 

Sarah looked around at the other dancers. Over the years they had changed. She remembered when she had been much younger, the dancers had been a rowdy crowd, but she had always been safe in Jareth's arms. And if they had gotten too rough, the Goblin King would wave his hand and the troublemakers would disappear, until it was only the two of them left dancing. She wasn't sure when the change began, but it had happened very slowly. Now, the other dancers were all ladies and gentlemen who danced politely. 

"Jareth, how many years have we been dancing like this?" She gripped his shoulder, liking the feel of him close to her. 

"Many years now, but only when the moon is full," he danced her onto the balcony where they could watch the moon. The King knew that no one would disturb them there. 

"The dancers are so different from the way they were when we first started coming here," their dancing slowed as a warm breeze blew in from the gardens. "You're different too, aren't you?" 

"We're all different, Sarah," he smiled down at her. "You've grown up." 

"Is that why everything changed in the Labyrinth?" 

"Yes," he kept them dancing, but very slowly. As long as they danced, he had an excuse to keep his arms around her. "Now days you see the Underground as it really is. When you were a child, you saw it as you wanted it to be." 

"That's why you didn't die?" Sarah shuddered as she remembered her childhood terror that she had been the one to destroy the Labyrinth and its King. It was odd, but it was only on nights like this, when she was dancing with Jareth that she remembered the nightmare that had robbed her of sleep the summer she was fifteen. 

"Shhhh, it's all right," he stopped and held her knowing that the time was growing near for him to tell her the truth. "All that died that night was the person you created in your mind. You saw the Labyrinth as a fairy tale. All good fairy tales need a villain," he shrugged as he looked down at her. "So I was your villain." 

"You weren't a villain, exactly," the dark haired woman smiled as she tried to put into words what the Jareth of her childhood had been like. "I think you were part naughty boy, part evil magician, and part Glitter-rock star. Come to think of it, you still have the glitter," she laughed as she ran her hand over his cheek where tiny bits of stardust had settled. 

"It's the outward sign of the magic," he shrugged and laughed, then turned serious again. "This is the real me, Sarah, the man who has been coming to you all these years." 

"And quite a man he is," she smiled up at him and traced his thin lips with her fingers. "Did you know I lied that night? What I said, I had to say, and I would do it again to save Toby, but it hurt." 

"Don't grieve, Sarah," he began to dance with her again, moving slowly as their bodies swayed. "What is said is said. The fairy tale is over, but at the time you were too young for anything else." 

"I'm not too young now," she whispered as he filled her eyes. I wish..." 

"Be careful, Sarah," he pulled back from her slightly. "Be careful what you wish for, this is the Labyrinth and tonight is a Blue Moon," he tilted his head toward his right shoulder, at the blue light that was cast over the balcony from the moon. "On nights such as these our worlds are very close and the impossible is possible." 

Sarah had loved this cool blond man for as long as she could remember. During high school she had dated a number of boys, but they had all been just that, boys. She always lost interest after two or three dates. Jareth was the man who held her heart, and all the boys in the world wouldn't be able to replace him. By the time she went to college, she was immersed in her writing and had given up on trying to find someone else who could make her feel what this man did. 

"I wish...that you'd kiss me," Sarah whispered. Part afraid he wouldn't and part afraid he would. 

He pulled her closer and looked deep into her eyes, making sure it was what she really wanted. Jareth had cared about this woman since he first began watching her as a young teen. He had loved her enough to set her free when she was accidental pulled into his Labyrinth years before her time. He'd known years ago that by helping her, he might end up a lonely old man and the end of his line. 

She swayed against him, as she felt him examine her soul. It was all the invitation he needed. Cupping her cheek in his left hand his right arm around her waist, he leaned down and felt the warmth of her lips against his. 

"Jareth," she murmured as she gripped him to her. She felt desire like she had never known. Shyly she moved her tongue to touch his lips and was instantly met by his probing one. The hand cupping her cheek moved down her back as he pulled her full length against him. She gasp as she felt all of his body tight and hard against hers. Her hands were digging into his shoulders. 

"Sarah," he gasp. "No more," his arms shook as he held her against him, desire and love flowing through his body. She had come to him once before, when she wasn't ready. He didn't want to repeat his mistake. 

The last time she had been fifteen when his goblins had accidentally given her the right words to wish her brother to the Underground. That shouldn't have happened for another four or five years. But when it had happened the game had to be played. For months afterward they had both suffered. Then for years they had only this time together in the ballroom on the night of the full moon. 

"Jareth, please," she looked up at him with her eyes bright with tears. "I want, I want...I don't want to stop. Don't you want...?" She flushed unsure how to ask why he had stopped. 

"I've wanted nothing more for a long time," he tilted her chin so he could see her face. "You're trembling, are you afraid of me?" 

"No," she turned her face until his fingers trailed across her lips, and then gently nipped the pad of this thumb. 

The Goblin King let out a growl, as desire flashed through him. He picked her up and swung them around. When Sarah opened her eyes, they were standing in a large bedroom. She could still hear music in the distance, but all else was quiet. 

"Jareth," Sarah shook with desire as she held him close, her lips reaching for his, again. 

"You taste so sweet, by Sarah," the Goblin King's voice was hoarse with need as his lips left a trail of fire down her neck. His nimble ungloved fingers reaching for the small buttons down the back of her dress. 

As time moved all too quickly, two beings, one from Earth and one from the Underground loved the night away. Jareth taught Sarah about the source of real magic, the kind that spanned the worlds and held them tight, as years of pent up emotions were set free. Each reaching and touching, needing to feel the other against, inside or around them. Each totally lost in the other's needs and wants. Fusing forever their hearts and souls as had been destine. 

As an orange-pink sky began to show through the Castle window, Jareth opened his eyes to a sight that he had wanted to see for years, Sarah sleeping in his arms. The covers were around their waists, her breast against his chest, a pink nipple grazing his skin. 

"Sarah," he whispered as he pulled her closer. "Wake-up, the night is gone, you need to wake-up. If you don't say the words, you can't stay past sunrise." 

"Hhhmmm," she blinked, but couldn't focus her eyes. Then in a flash he was gone and she was in her own bed. She turned over, a smile on her lips; she had had a wonderful dream. 

"Damn!" The Goblin King swore, as sunlight came through his window and Sarah was pulled back to her world. He had come so close. Leaning over he smelled the pillow where her head had been and caught the light rose scent that she always wore. "I can wait," he muttered. "I've waited nine years, I can wait one more month!" He rolled over and got up singing. 

_28 Days Later_: 

Sarah woke up feeling dizzy. Her stomach heaved as she got out of bed and ran for the bathroom. Curled on the floor beside the toilet, she threw up for the third morning in a row. Leaning her head on the cool porcelain of the bathtub she damned the odd stomach flu she had caught. The first morning it had happened, she had blamed it on something she had eaten. If she didn't know better she would swear she was.........no, she couldn't be, she shook her head. 

As the dizziness passed, she decided she must have been exercising too much lately; after all she had been excessively tired the last week. 'Yes that was all it was,' she reasoned to herself, 'working too hard on the new book and too much time at the gym.' Getting up, having convinced herself that she just needed to rearrange her schedule a bit she hurried to get dressed to go into New York. She had a lunch meeting with the Margaret Commings, her editor and the older sister of her best friend, Jenny. 

_A Few Hours Later_: 

"Are you sure you're feeling alright, you look a bit off, today," Margaret Commings looked at her friend across the lunch table. 

The two women had grown close over the last few years. Margaret could still remember the Christmas break when Sarah and Jenny had been seniors in college. Jenny had shown her a story written by her roommate. The older woman loved the touching tale of a young boy wished away to a land of Goblins and magic. Sarah had her first book offer before she had graduated college. The rest was destiny as the three women liked to say. 

"I'm fine, just a bit of stomach flu, that's all," Sarah assured the older woman.   
  
"It can't be too bad," Margaret pointed out. "You ate all of your lunch, except the latte," she arched her brow at Sarah, knowing how much the younger woman loved the espresso and whipped milk drink. 

"I was starved, I couldn't keep my breakfast down." Sarah laughed as she made a face, "I think the milk may be off though, the latte doesn't taste right." 

"Hhhmmm," Margaret leaned her elbow on the table and looked her friend over carefully. "What other symptoms does this flu of yours have?" She was remembering all too well how she had felt eighteen months ago, when she had been in the early stages of pregnancy with her first child. 

"It's nothing really, dizziness and nausea when I wake up," Sarah tried to make a joke of it; not liking the way Margaret was looking at her. "Lattes taste a bit strange, and I haven't been able to keep my breakfast down for the last three mornings, or my eyes open past eight o'clock at night. I guess I must be getting old." 

"Okay, who is he?" Margaret hadn't thought her friend was seeing anyone. Sarah was standoffish where men were concerned. The editor had assumed it was because of the rough time Sarah had experienced when her parents had divorced, that she had created her world of the Underground, where the men were all safe and there was always a happy ending. "I'd bet my percentage of your next book that you're pregnant." 

"No!" Sarah was about to deny that there were any men in her life, but she knew there was one man, though he was only a dream, wasn't he? "Just take it from me, it's impossible." 

"If you say so," Margaret didn't want to argue. "Just to be on the safe side, why don't you pick up one of those home pregnancy tests. Accidents can happen, no matter how careful one is." 

"Really Margaret, I'd know if I was pregnant, wouldn't I?" 

Margaret just raised an eyebrow at her friend and got back to business. "My boss wanted me to ask you again, if you'd reconsider and do a book on The Goblin King," she knew this wasn't what Sarah had wanted to hear. 

"Are you getting a lot of pressure about this?" Sarah didn't want to damage her friend's career, but she was determined not to be pushed into writing something she didn't want to write. For some reason that she couldn't explain, she didn't want to take the close look at Jareth that would be necessary if he were to be anything but a background character. She smiled to herself as she wondered what he'd think if he knew she thought of him as the master Puppeteer of the Underground. 

"Sarah?" Margaret patted the young woman's arm. 

"Hmm?" She blinked and came back to reality. "Sorry," Sarah laughed. "I don't know what happened." 

"Taking a little side trip to The Underground?" Margaret grinned, wise in the ways of authors. 

"Not exactly, and you never answered my question," Sarah danced around her friend's inquiry. 

"My boss was only asking, not pressuring," Margaret smiled. "Not a day goes by that we don't get mail asking for a story about The King. 

"If your boss isn't happy with my work, I'm sure there's another publishing house that would be glad to handle my Toby And The Underground books." 

"I had to try," the older woman shook her head at the younger one. 

"If I change my mind, you'll be the first to know. For now, Jareth is a background character in the stories, caster of spells, seen only from a distance, sending his crystals off to...." 

"Jareth?" The older woman smiled. "So you've at least given him a name." 

"Yes, he's always had a name," Sarah sighed. She knew she couldn't write his story, not feeling the way she did about him. She thought back to the dream she had had a few weeks earlier. It had seemed so real. Sarah wondered what Margaret would say if she told her that she couldn't be pregnant because she was in love with a made up Goblin King and the only man she had ever made love to was in her dreams. 

Sarah was almost home when a deep voice with gently accented words crept into her mind, "On nights such as these our worlds are very close and the impossible is possible." 

"Oh my God!" She gasped as she slammed on the brakes and made a quick turn into the drug store on the corner. 

The next morning as Sarah leaned her head against the cool bath tub, dizziness and nausea still rolled through her, as she kept a close eye on her watch. Her hands shook as she reached for the dipstick to check it, when the long wait was finally over. 

"NO!" She gasped, the stick hadn't just turned blue, and it was a bright glowing blue, the color of the blue moon, a month ago in the Labyrinth. Her mind swam with questions: how had it happened; did he know; did she want him to know; had he done it on purpose; could she trust him; what to do now? The only question she could answer for sure was that she wanted this baby. She may not be able to have Jareth, but she would have a part of him. 

Tonight was going to be a full moon; Sarah realized she had to stay awake all night, so he couldn't get into her dreams. She needed to figure out what to do before she faced him again. 

Jareth paced his thrown room. It was a full moon and Sarah hadn't let him in. For some reason, she hadn't gone to sleep. Since the night he had taken away her memory of what had happened in the Underground, he could only go to her when she called him, or on the nights of the full moon, when she slept. Pulling a crystal out of the air, he looked deep into it, trying to find her, but all he saw was blue fog. He could feel Sarah's sadness, but he couldn't see her or what was making her so unhappy. 

"Damn," he muttered. "I knew she wasn't ready yet, I should have waited, but by The Seven Crystals, I've loved her so long!" 

Over the next few weeks Jareth tried often to see Sarah in one of his crystals, but the blue fog was only growing thicker. Somehow she had found a way to block him. It didn't seem possible, but she was keeping him out. In two days it would be another full moon, if she didn't come to him then, he didn't know what he was going to do. 

As pregnancies went, Sarah's was hell. She knew she was losing weight instead of gaining it, because after the first few weeks, she could hardly keep any food down. On a good day, she would be able to eat some tea and crackers. 

"Oh little baby," she moaned as she ran her hand over her stomach. "Please listen to me, if you have any of the power your father has, use it to hang in there tightly, this will pass, it's got to." 

Looking at her calendar with blurry eyes, Sarah moaned, as she saw that it was going to be a full moon tomorrow night. She was so exhausted; she doubted she would be able to keep from falling asleep. As she walked back to her living room, she felt the beginning of vague cramps. Over the next half an hour they got worse and worse. 

"No," she begged as she realized what was happening. "No, please, NO!" She curled into the corner of her couch, tears running down her face. Her hands holding tightly to her stomach, as she called to the only person who might be able to help her. "Jareth, help me, please help me!" 

If the lights went out and the wind blew through the house, Sarah had no memory of it. All she knew was one instant she was alone, in pain and more afraid than she had ever been in her life. In the next instant, Jareth was kneeling beside her. 

"I'm here, my Sarah," he whispered his hand pressing into her abdomen, making her pain go away, and with it her fear. 

"Help me," she gasp. "I don't want to lose the baby." 

"Put your arms around my neck," he instructed. "I've got to take you back with me, that's the only way." Never taking his hand off her abdomen, he used his free hand to swirl his black cloak around them and they disappeared in a cloud of stardust. 

They reappeared in a bedroom that was all too familiar to Sarah. She flushed, but didn't argue with Jareth as he lay her on his bed, her hand reaching involuntarily to cover his, as they kept the unborn child safe.   
  
"The babe is strong and safe," he assured the distraught woman. "Why didn't you call me sooner?" Jareth saw how pale and thin Sarah had gotten. For a moment he felt pride that she had fought with as much strength and courage to protect his child, as she had to bet Toby back. 

"I couldn't," tears began to roll down her face again as the Goblin King sat beside her, gently running his free hand through her hair. 

"Sarah, there's nothing you can't tell me," he cupped her chin so that she would look him in the eyes. "Especially something like this." 

"I didn't know how," she nibbled on her lower lip a sure sign that she was nervous. "Or if you'd even care." 

"Of course I care," Jareth looked sadly at the woman who meant more to him than anything. "My poor sweet, did I frighten you so badly as a child that you thought you needed to hide this from me?" 

"No, I was never afraid," she smiled and caressed his cheek. "I've been so confused, I didn't know what to do." 

"For tonight, you need to sleep," he smiled as he began to stand. "We'll talk in the morning." 

"Please don't go," Sarah pulled his hand back on her abdomen. 

Jareth didn't have to be asked twice, he stretched out on the bed beside the her, holding her close and keeping one hand on his child deep within her. He kissed her gently, as much to reassure both of them that she was there, as to send her into a resting sleep with a gentle nudge from his magic. 

He was awakened a few hours before dawn by a warm sensation beneath the hand covering his baby. He smiled to himself as he felt the tiny rhythms of magic that were there. 'So young and magic already?' He thought, 'no wonder Sarah was having such a hard pregnancy. If she was to keep the babe, she would have to stay in the Underground. Magic like that couldn't grow in the outside world and survive.' Jareth realized that it was the confused magic of his child that had blocked his ability to see Sarah in the crystals. He should have known, he chided himself. That made him twice careless in this incident. He hoped it wouldn't cost him is future. 

_A Few Hours Later_: 

Sarah turned over and opened her eyes, she gasped as she looked directly into a pair of mismatched blue eyes that had been haunting her dreams for years. "Am I dreaming? The baby?" 

"No, you aren't dreaming," Jareth smiled. "And the baby is fine." 

"We have to talk," Sarah's eyes filled with tears. She was horrified; all she did lately was cry. 

"Don't cry, my sweet, everything will be all right," he gently wiped the tears off her cheeks. "But you're right, we do need to talk. I'll have some breakfast sent in while you wash up and change." He pointed toward the door next to his high dresser, "go through there, you'll find everything you need." 

Half an hour later Sarah came out of the bathroom, wearing Jareth's robe. Her long damp hair was in a French braid that was loose enough to keep the headache that was threatening at bay, but tight enough to make her look adult and in control. She was clean and had gotten the first good night's sleep in weeks. The smell of breakfast made her mouth water, but didn't upset her stomach. Maybe she was finally going to be all right. 

Jareth had a table set on the balcony of his room. It was a warm sunny day in the Underground. Looking up at the sky, Sarah said a small prayer 'please help me get through the next hour,' as she pasted a smile on her lips and went to join the King for breakfast. 

"You're looking more yourself," the tall blonde man held out her chair as she approached the table. 

"I'm feeling more myself," she smiled back. "But I'm confused. How did this happen?" 

"Don't you remember the Blue Moon Festival?" He held his coffee cup in an ungloved hand, his eyebrows raised. 

"I'm not talking about that," Sarah flushed as she remembered all too well the specifics. "All these years I thought you were a dream." 

"You eat, while I tell you what happened. You've gotten to thin. Don't worry I think you'll find your stomach more receptive to food since you're here," he handed her a bowl shaped cup filled with espresso and warm whipped milk. 

"This is good," she sighed as she took a drink. "Even if it is decaffeinated," Sarah shrugged, thinking of the baby. 

"Eat," he commanded, and then took a deep breath. He knew he had to tell this story correctly or things could end badly for both of them, he also knew he had to tell her the complete truth. "A number of years ago you wished your brother into the Labyrinth. It shouldn't have happened when you were fifteen, but it did. You see, the Labyrinth is a test that is given each woman who will become a Goblin Queen. Don't interrupt," he saw her opening her mouth to speak. "I think we were fated for each other. I had been a...watching you for months. It must have caught the Goblins attention and unknown to me, they kept an eye on you when I was otherwise occupied. The night you wished Toby away, you were too young to have the correct words, but one of the Goblins became impatient and gave them to you." 

"That was real too? You would have taken Toby and expected me to stay and love you?" 

"No, that was part of the test. I would never have kept Toby; we haven't stolen children for generations. I needed to know your capacity for loving. It was my great-great-grandfather who invented the Labyrinth test. His father chose a woman whose love wasn't strong enough to survive in the Underground. He refused to listen to what the Crystal prophesied. It almost destroyed us. Before that time, there was no Bog Of Eternal Stench, it was a wishing spring. The dark forest of The Firies was a beautiful glade, and the Caverns Of Despair were The Crystal Caves Of Dreams. The fights that went on between the two mismatched lovers created all those dark places. It could never be allowed to happen again." 

"Wait," she held out her hand to stop him. "I need to know, did you use magic on me that night.... the last night I was here?" 

"No, sweet," he touched her delicate chin. "No Goblin magic. The only magic that was used that night was the kind between a man and a woman. We created it ourselves. Each having equal power over the other." He saw her relax back in her chair as if a great weight had been lifted off of her. "I'm not sorry for that night, only that the outcome would cause you pain. I should have taken precautions." 

"The fault isn't all yours," Sarah knew she had to tell him the truth. "When I'm with you I know it's real, it's only when we're apart that everything seems like a dream. I'm an adult, part of the responsibility is mine." 

"After you had gone back to your own world," he continued his narrative. "You were miserable. I knew you had lied when you said I had no power over you. I knew it before you told me when we last danced, but I also knew you were a child when you said the words with no understanding of a grown up's love and desire. I did away with your pain by making all that happened into a dream. I cared about you as a child, but I love you as a woman." 

"If that's true, why did you send me back alone that morning?" Sarah stood, her heart wanting to believe him, but knowing if she did and he was lying to her, she would shatter when he grew tired of her. 

"I didn't send you back. The Spell Of The Full Moon only lasts until sunrise," he smiled as he remembered the passion that had exhausted them both. "I was trying to wake you when the sun came up and the enchantment ended. If you had said the words that morning, you never would have left here." 

"The sun is up now and I'm here?" Sarah pointed to the sun coming over the tops of the forest in the distance. 

"You're here because of the babe," he looked her in the eyes, trying to see deep into her soul. "What's done is done, now you have to decide. Do you want to keep the baby?" 

"Oh yes," she gasped, covering her hand over her unborn child. "I've loved this child since I knew of its existence." 

"The only way the babe will survive is if you stay in the Underground," he whispered. "I've never known of a Goblin King-Mortal child before, ours will be the first. Time moves strangely down here, and it affects the babe, as it grows inside of you." 

"There's more you're not telling me," Sarah knew that her pregnancy had been unusually rough in her own world and that she felt wonderful in the Underground. 

"Yes," he sighed. "The baby has great magic. I could feel it as you slept last night. That magic can't survive in one so tiny on your world, but here it nurtures both you and the unborn child. I love you Sarah, and I know you love me. Say the words and stay here for all time." 

"I'm so confused, Jareth," Sarah stood and leaned against the side of the balcony. "I don't know what I feel anymore, my hormones are so mixed up. What if we end up destroying the Labyrinth."? 

"When I was born it was prophesied that I had two destinies one would lead to great love and the other to great loneliness. I learned last night, that there was a part of my prophecy that had never been told," he came to her and tuned her so that she faced him. "Wiseman paid me a visit last night," he smiled as he saw Sarah remember the old man. "He told me that a Mortal woman would own my heart. I've been so lonely all these years without you, Sarah." 

"You're making that up," Sarah's felt tears threatening again. "But I've been lonely too." 

"No, my love I'm not," he wiped the tears from her face. "Love me for I love you, be my slave, for I am yours, but never fear me, because you are all I've ever wanted and I am all you've ever wanted. We are each other's dreams." 

Sarah leaned forward and kissed the tall blonde man who was the other half of her, as she did, she said the words that would bind them together forever. "You have power over me!" 

"And you over me," he whispered. Their fate was finally set to rights. 

The long reign of Jareth and Sarah saw the Land Of The Goblins prosper and grow. For generations the legend of Sarah the Mortal, the most powerful Goblin Queen to ever help rule the Labyrinth was told. She was kind and loving and had the power to capture a Goblin King's heart. That was true power indeed!   
  
  



End file.
